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At age 14, in poverty and famine, a Malawian boy built a windmill to power his family's home. Now at 22, William Kamkwamba, who speaks at TED, here, for the second time, shares in his own words the moving tale of invention that changed his life.
Wi...lliam Kamkwamba, from Malawi, is a born inventor. When he was 14, he built an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap, working from rough plans he found in a library book called Using Energy and modifying them to fit his needs. The windmill he built powers four lights and two radios in his family home. After reading about Kamkwamba on Mike McKay's blog Hactivate (which picked up the story from a local Malawi newspaper), TEDGlobal
Conference Director Emeka Okafor spent several weeks tracking him down at his home in Masitala Village, Wimbe, and invited him to attend TEDGlobal on a fellowship. Onstage, Kamkwamba talked about his invention and shared his dreams: to build a larger windmill to help with irrigation for his entire village, and to go back to school. Following Kamkwamba's moving talk, there was an outpouring of support for him and his promising work. Members of the TED community got together to help him improve his power system (by incorporating solar energy), and further his education through school and mentorships. Subsequent projects have included clean water, malaria prevention, solar power and lighting for the six homes in his family compound; a deep-water well with a solar-powered pump for clean water; and a drip irrigation system. Kamkwamba himself returned to school, and is now attending the African Leadership Academy, a new pan-African prep school outside Johannesburg, South Africa.
Kamkwamba's story is documented in his autobiography, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope. A short documentary about Kamkwamba, called Moving Windmills, won several awards last year; Kamkwamba and friends are now working on a full-length film. You can read the ongoing details on his blog (which he keeps with help from his mentor), and support his work and other young inventors at MovingWindmills.org.[more]

Turn your trash into treasure, or at least good quality fertilizer and save the planet at the same time. Learn in this video the benefits of a compost pile and detailed directions on how to make one. Run time 05:33.

This 3:23 video shows how to select more environmentally friendly bathroom products with some simple changes. The video does contain some terms that may require additional study. The dirty dozen is very important for students to understand. This woul...d make a good video to share with parents as well as students.[more]

Humans aren't the only ones in the world with a waste problem. We go through 2 million tons of non-biodegradable kitty litter each year. Bill Nye tackles the problem of kitty litter and shows how you can help your pet reduce its carbon footprint. Ru...n time 03:15[more]

This three minute video reviews how solar panels work. It includes a visit to the America's largest solar factory to see how they're made. It also explains what to look for in terms of how long they last and the warranty. This is an excellent overvie...w.[more]

Inspirational video showing the benefits of creating green roofs, gardens on roof tops. In this video we look at two of New York's most impressive green roofs to find out how they can help cities cool off and clean up. At a state of the art research ...station on the roof of Silvercup Studios in Queens, Riverwired's Pulse talks to green roof specialist Leslie Hoffman about how a few plants can reduce water pollution, cool an "urban heat island" by 100 degrees, and improve air quality. (04:59)[more]

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